The Radical Catholic

Radically Free.

I follow Jesus because he was the most radically free person to walk this planet.

I thought I was free for a long time because I could do whatever I wanted. I didn’t realize I was only doing what my unruly desires demanded. I hardly had much say in my life.

That’s when my priest shared this little secret with me. Smash your idols and you will be as free as Jesus.

Luke 14:26 is a difficult piece of scripture for most people. “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

I hadn’t realized until then how much I had made idols out of the image of what I thought my parents, spouse, children, friends and even my own life should be.

Of course, no one and no human life could live up to the fantasy I had created about how people and life should be. And when everything failed to meet my expectations and standards, which they all did one by one, I was heartbroken.

I instantly knew this scripture didn’t mean to hate these people or my life but to let go of the image I had built about them. This holding on, trying to control people and life to fit my narrative, no matter how well-intentioned, kept me in pain.

I was a slave to my idols and didn’t even know it.

But Luke 14:26 freed my mind and heart like no other.

Jesus was radically free, not because he didn’t care. He cared profusely but about the right thing.

God, the Father in heaven.

His mind and heart were one-pointed. They weren’t pulled in a thousand different directions by unruly and demanding desires as mine were.

But, of course, he’s Jesus. The Son of God. The meeting place of heaven and earth. The embodiment of the divine and human.

I don’t expect to be like him, but I can try.

I can move toward becoming more aware of all the things I idolize instead of God. Be it health, relationships, attractiveness, intelligence, success, wealth, respect, admiration, righteousness.

When I re-order all my affections and put God first, everything becomes so much easier and peaceful.

It’s like God has been waiting for me all my life to get honest about what I was focusing on and then hoping I would make a conscious choice for him to be my number one.

I have.

I‘ve never felt so free in my life.

Blessings.

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